Restaurant workers give us their list of doltish diners

Managers, servers and bartenders brought up plenty of peeves about customers.

Whatever you do, don't ask Nicole Ponti, "What is your real job?"

Ponti, 23, a bartender at a restaurant in Clifton, loves the restaurant
industry so much that she is studying hospitality management at the
Institute of Culinary Education. When rude customers pipe up, she tells
them bartending is how she's helping pay for her education. But
sometimes she feels like asking them how they would be drinking bloody
marys if she wasn't standing behind the bar at a supposedly fake job.

Over the last few weeks, we've discussed the pet peeves we diners have
about restaurants. But managers, servers and bartenders who wrote to me
brought up plenty of peeves about customers.

Guests who complain not when problems can be fixed, but after they have finished the meal and are looking for a freebie.
It seems obvious, but don't eat out if you're not willing to pay for
it. "We are trained to go up to every guest after two bites or one
minute and ask how everything is," said Ponti, a former server. "The
guest has the opportunity to tell me. If the servers care about their
job, they also do not want the guests to eat things they do not enjoy."

BYOB customers who take advantage. First of all, just
because you can bring your own wine to a restaurant doesn't mean you can
bring your own tea, soda and cake, all of which have been carted in by
the customers of a waitress at a high-end Bergen County BYOB who
identified herself as Chris.

Chris added, "A lot of times, customers will bring multiple bottles of
wine, champagne and beer to be opened, which is very time-consuming" and
often requires several types of glasses. "Which is fine, if they would
only take this into consideration when they tip; after all, when they
dine in a restaurant with a liquor license, they tip on the wine they
purchase."

No-shows. This is of particular issue in smaller,
high-end restaurants that make most of their money on weekends – lose
one Saturday night table and they may have lost the evening's profits.
"Have the decency to cancel at least 24 hours in advance," Chris wrote.
"It is mean to the house and the servers as they all lose money when
this happens last minute."

Coupon users who tip inappropriately. So you come in
with a Groupon, or a gift certificate, and get $50 off the tab. The
right thing to do is to tip on the full amount of the check before the
discount – after all, the server still had to serve the whole meal. "I
am still giving the same service, and it doesn't mean now that the
customer can tip on the new discounted price," said Fabian Pattarroyo,
who said he has worked as both a server and a manager in numerous
restaurants.

(I can attest to the fact that this is easy to do accidentally, when
you're distracted while signing your check – I once called a restaurant
back and asked them to add an additional tip to the credit card.)

Customers who aren't ready to order. And instead of
saying, "Give us a few minutes," they ask the waitress to stand there
while they hem and haw over the pasta versus the steak. "That's not to
say part of my role isn't to help navigate the menu," wrote one server
at a high-end Bergen County American restaurant. "But too often, I'm
stuck simply waiting for them without being of any use. That's rude to
me, and more importantly, to other customers. Minutes can seem like eons
when you're waiting for your food, so every second counts for servers."

Ponti, the Clifton bartender often responsible for taking to-go orders,
deals with customers who call unprepared. "Imagine the bar two rows
deep, with two bartenders on, and one of us waiting to take your to-go
order while you ask every person in your family what they would like to
eat. Meanwhile, I have 70 faces looking at me."

Playing with plates. The Bergen County American
restaurant server begged customers not to stack their empty plates,
saying it's not as helpful as it seems. "First of all, it doesn't look
nice. The table next to you doesn't want to feel like they're eating
next to the dishwasher. But there's also a pragmatic reason that diners
might not realize: It makes it more difficult for bussers and servers to
clear the table for the simple reason that patrons don't stack well….
When we see a stack in the middle, we know that we're going to have to
lift that precarious Jenga of plates up over the glasses with the hope
that something doesn't decide to fall on somebody's lap."

Not leaving when you're done. Particularly if you have
an early weekend reservation and are done with dessert and coffee. This
is a big problem for BYOBs that cannot simply send customers to the
bar. "If you are the type of party that likes to linger and take your
time, do yourself and us a favor and come on a weeknight or Sunday or
even consider the last seating," Chris wrote.

But when the restaurant is closed, leave. "Just like everyone else, we have lives and families," Pattarroyo wrote.

"Don't touch me. Period." So wrote one of our servers. This should go without saying, right?

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Guests who complain not when problems can be fixed, but after they have finished the meal and are looking for a freebie. It seems obvious, but don't eat out if you're not willing to pay for it. "We are trained to go up to every guest after two bites or one minute and ask how everything is," said Ponti, a former server. "The guest has the opportunity to tell me. If the servers care about their job, they also do not want the guests to eat things they do not enjoy."

I can see why that would be frustrating.

I have an associate who does this...eats most to all the damn food then tries to haggle cuz it supposedly wasn't seasoned well or cold.

we're guilty of not leaving when we're done. If the place needs the table though, we are considerate of that. We will move the party to the parking lot and continue visiting for another hour or 2, on some Never Can Say Goodbye 'ish, LOL

when we had special Anniversary glasses (I broke 'em last year) we would take them to the restaurant with us to have our traditional anniversary toast if we were out of town. Strange...those glasses traveled with us for years (in planes, trains, and automobiles) and I broke them on the counter right here at the house

eta: we may have brought a cake to a restaurant for a party before; but other than that, we don't bring stuff to restaurant either

we're guilty of not leaving when we're done. If the place needs the table though, we are considerate of that. We will move the party to the parking lot and continue visiting for another hour or 2, on some Never Can Say Goodbye 'ish, LOLX

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